Rail bond



July M), 1923. LALGLGXS! T. HAULTON RAIL BOND Filed Sept. l5 1919 lulligI W'Q HHH/Wim.,

A mm ma n Patented .Bully 1Q, 123.

N ll

THOMAS HAULTON, 0F JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVAMA.

RAIL BOND.

Application ledl September 15, 1919. Serial No. 323,757.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS HAuLrroN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Johnstown, in the county' of Cambria and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailBonds; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railbonds which are used to electrically connect adjacent or aligned railsections.

The principal object of the invention lis to provide a rail bond, theterminals of which are constructed so as to snugly fit around one edgeof the base flanges of the aligned rail sections and be welded thereto,and the electrical conductor disposed between the terminals being weldedto the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rail bond in which theelectrical conductor is disposed beneath the base Iianges of the alignedrail sections so that it is out of the way and not likely to becomeinjured.

Another object of the invention is to generally improve upon devices ofthis class by the provision of an extremely simple, strong, durable andinexpensive construction, and one which will be well adapted to thepurpose for which it is designed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists ofthe novelfeatures of construction, and the combination and arrangement of partsas will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings in which similar reference charactersdesignate like parts throughout the several views;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a palrof aligned rail sections., showingthe application of a rail bond constructed in accordance wlth thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view across one of the rail sections,said view belng taken on the plane indicated by the line. 2--2 ofFig. 1. v n Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the planeindicated b line 3- 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitu 'nal sectional view through a portion of one of thetermmal elements taken on the plane indicated by the line 4--4 of Fig.2, and

Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the terminal elements illustrating thatthe angle between the walls of the notch for receiving one edge of thebase flange of the rail is less than the angle between the upper andlower sides of base flange 5. The rail sections 1 and 2 are connectedtogether by means of plates 6 and 7 disposed on opposite sides of thewebs A and by bolts 8 and nuts 9.

The numeral l0 represents rail bond terminals which are preferably inthe form of malleable iron castings having notches 11 in one of theiredges to receive one @t the edges of the base flanges 5 of the rail. Thenotches 11 form the terminals into substantially C-shaped clips havingenlarged lower membersV and flat rectangular-shaped upper members. Asclearl shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings the angle etween the walls of thenotches 11 is smaller than the angle between the upper and lower sidesof the base flanges 5 of the rail so that the terminal elements 10 haveto be forced onto said base flanges in order to spread the upper andlower 'members of the terminal elements or clips apart and to effect aclamping engagement. rlhis -may be done by driving the terminal elements10 upon the base fianges. When this is done the angle between the wallsof the notches 11 will change to correspond with the angle between theupper and lower sides of the base flanges. Owing to the fact that theterminal elements 10 are malleable caStings, they will not be rupturedwhen they are distorted in this manner.

The portions 12 of the terminal elements 10 which 'are disposed beneaththe base flanges 5 of the rail are provided near their inner or freelongitudinal edges with aligned longitudinally extending openings 13,the ends of which are flared outwardly as at 1A. A flexible electriccable 15, that is to say, a cable made of strands of copper wire, isdisposed beneath the base Hanges 5 of the rail sections between theterminal elements 10 and has its ends disposedin the openings 13. Asshown in the drawings the dialnet/er of the cable 15 is substantiallyequal to the diameter of the openings 13 so that the cable fits rathersnugly in said openings. After the ends of the cable are inserted in theopenings 13, they are spot welded so I that approximately one-third ofthe ,minal elements. Much importance is to be paid to this means foranchoring the ends of the cable to the terminal elements. Prior types ofrail bonds employing flexible copper cables anchored to terminal`elements which are welded to the rail sections have proven impracticalbecause the high heat neceary to weld the terminal elements to -the railsection has oxidized the copper cable and weakened it so that it couldnot withstand much strain or vibration without breaking. The presentinvention overcomes this defect because of the fact that only portionsof the ends of the cable are welded to the terminal elements while theother portions` of the ends of the cable are fitted tightl in theopenings through the terminal e ements so that the weakened weldedportions are reinforced. The rtions of the cable which emerge from t eterminal elements will therefore readily bend upon vibration withoutbreaking or without Jfracturing the weakened welded parts.` To furtherreduce the danger of injuring the cable as it emerges from the openingsin the terminal elements, the ends of these openings are flaredoutwardly to provide a bending radius so that any bending of the cablewill not be concentrated at a sharp point. In view of the fact that theterminal elements are welded to the upper sides of the base flanges ofthe rail sections, while the cable is disposed entirely beneath the baseflanges of the rear sections and welded to the terminal elements at thispoint, no injury will be done to the cable or to its connection with theterminal elements when the latter are being welded to the rail sections.

The upper members of the terminal elements or clips 10 are wider thanthe distance between parallel planes passing through one edge of thebase flange of the rail sections and the corresponding edge of the headsof the rail sections, so that said upper members l extend under theheads of the rail sections.

l:ses

The cable 15 and its two terminal elements to which it is welded is madeas a unit and applied to the 'base anges of a pair of aligned railsections in the manner above described. After the elements 10 have beendriven as far as they will go upon the base flanges of the railsections, the upper members of the elements 10 are arc welded to thesame. This provides a simple means for securely fastening the terminalelements to the rail sections.

By having the cable 15 welded to the tel.-

i minal members 10 and the latter in turnl welded to the rail sections,a perfect union between these parts is formed and a perfect electricalconnection between the rail sections is also formed.

By having the cable 15 Adisposed entirely i beneath the base flanges ofthe rail sections terminal elements 10, or in fact the portions l ofsaid elements which are disposed above the base flanges of the railsections, the only injury which would likely be done to said terminalelements would be to distort them as the union by the welding processbetween the terminal elements and the base flanges of the rail sectionscould not be easily broken.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the fact that theangle between the walls of the notches 11 in the terminal elements isless than the angle between the upper and lower Asides of the baseflanges of the rail sectionsso that when the terminal elements aredriven on the base anges they will lock themselves to the base flangesand no extra devlce or apparatus is necessary to hold the terminalelements to the base flanges while said elements are being welded.

The invention is applicable with many advantages to all types ofrailroads, but it is Yespecially applicable to mine haulage railverypoorly laid and-cared for and the joints r between the rail sections aregenerally loose, so that there is considerable movement of the railsections at the joints for every wheel that passes thereover. Thepresent invention withstands this condition by reason of the fact thatthe electric cable isiiexible and because of the secure manner in whichthe ends of the cable are connected to the terminal elements and thelatter to the rail sections. v

The beds of mine haulage roads are usually wet and often th'e rails areentirely covered with vwater which is generally of high acid contentcausing corrosion of metal mechanism or devices moistened thereby. Underthis state of circumstances good electrical' connection between therails and bonds is diliicult toobtain except by actual weldin such as inthis invention where the. termina elements are welded to the railsections and Athe electric cable is welded to the terminal elements.

The tracks of mine haulage roads are constantly being taken up andrelaid, which obviously re uires detachment of the bonds from the ral-Wherever this is contem- IUD plated the welding of the terminal elementsWhat is claimed is: to the rail sections is` done only along the 'llhecombination with a pair of alined rail inner longitudinal edges of theupper memsections, of a bond electrically connecting bers of theterminal elements, so that when the rail sections and comprising a pairof the rails are taken up the terminal elements terminal elementsclasped around one edge may be cut by means of a cold chisel or the ofthe base flanges of the rail sections, said like along the innerlongitudinal edges of elements being made of malleable metal of theirupper members away from the rail seca low degree of conductivity andbeing in tions without damaging the remaining porthe form ofsubstantially C-shaped clips tions of the terminal elements which thenhaving fiat substantially rectangular shaped can be used again. uppermembers and enlarged lower members In mine haulage railroads carderailment disposed respectively above and below the is very frequent,and an e'ective rail bond base langes of the ra-il sections, said memforsuch roads must be constructed so as to bers being relatively arrangednormally at not be damaged by derailed cars. The presasmaller angle thanthe angle between the ent invention withstands this by reason of upperand lower surfaces of the base flanges the fact that the electric cableis positioned of the rail sections and being spread into entirelybeneath the base flanges of the rail clasping engagement with the baseanges sections where it cannot be engaged by deof the rail sections bysaid clips being forced railed wheels, and the portions of the teruponone edge of said base flanges, the said minal elements which extend overthe base upper members being of such a width as to Hanges of the railsections are so strongly extend under the heads of the rail sectionsconstructed and connected to the base flanges and being welded onlyalong their inner of the rail sections in such a manner that deedges tothe base flanges of the rail sections,

railed wheels will not injure them so as to -whereby said clips can beeasily separated cripple their functions. The mner longifrom the baseflanges of the rail sections by tudinal edges of the upper members ofthe cutting them along the inner edges of their terminal elements whichare welded to the said upper members, the said lower members baseflanges of the rail sections are disposed being provided near theirinner edges with entirely beneath theheads of the rail seclongitudinallyextending openings, and a tions so that derailed wheels cannot engage`exible conductor located entirely beneath the terminal elements at thepoints where the base Bauges of the rail sectionsy and conthe latter arewelded to the rail sections. necting said clips and having its ends dis-From the foregoing description, taken in posed in said openings andwelded to said connection with the accompanying drawlower members, said.conductor being of a ings, the construction and use of the invenmetalof' a comparatively high degree of tion will be readily understood.conductivity.

Various changes in form, proportion, and ln testimony whereof ll havehereunto set in the minor details of construction may be my hand.resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined in the claim. THMAS HULTON.

